Brush holder for waxing and polishing machines



Aug 11, 1959 R. E. COOVER BRUSH HOLDER FOR WAXING AND POLISHING MACHINES Filed Jan. 28; 1955 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 4 4 22 I4 4 4 4s 4z I o ik 3I 2.2g 5 INVENTOR RICHARD E. COOVER ATTORNEY Aug. 11, 1959 R. E. COOVER BRUSH HOLDER FOR WAXING AND POLISHING MACHINES Filed Jan. 28, 1955 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR RICHARD E. COOVER ATTORNEY United States. 1 atent 2,898,516 Patented Aug. 11, 1959 BRUSH HOLDER FOR WAXING AND POLISHING MACHINES Richard E. Coover, York, Pa., assignor to Kay Busser, York, Pa.

Application January 28, 1955, Serial No. 484,779

1 Claim. (Cl. 15-49) Floor waxing and polishing machines of various sorts have been well known for many years. Many of the most popular type of waxing and polishing machines have two, or more often three, brushes that are driven by a motor having its drive shaft aligned in a vertical position so that it may drive the brushes in a rotary fashion with their bristles engaging the surface that is to be cleaned and/or polished. In the past one of the most troublesome features of machines of this character has been the removal and replacing of the desired brush, whether it is for the cleaning of the surface, the application of wax, the spreading of applied wax, or the burnishing of the applied and spread wax.

My invention relates to a brush holder that will permit the very easy removal and replacement of brushes to be used in conjunction with a machine adapted to provide for the rapid rotation of brushes of floor waxing and polishing machines.

An object of my invention is to provide a brush that may easily be affixed to a brush rotating machine.

Another object is to provide a brush which may be inserted into a brush holder without placing the brush and holder in any predetermined position in order to provide means for rotating the brush with the brush holder.

An even further object is to provide a brush which may be frictionally held by a brush holder and driven by that brush holder without particularly aligning the brush and holder to assure a rotary driving connection between the two.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a view in front elevation of a floor waxing and polishing machine, partly broken away and showing a brush holder with a brush in position for use;

Figure 2 is an enlarged vertical cross section through the brush holder and brush;

Figure 3 is a horizontal cross section taken on the line 33 of Figure 2, looking in the direction of the arrows; and

Figure 4 is a view in perspective of the brush.

In Figure 1 I have shown a generally conventional floor cleaning, waxing and polishing machine having three brushes which are adapted to be held beneath a casing which supports a motor housing 12 so that the motor shaft is in a vertical position. The motor shaft is provided with a suitable pulley (not shown) to engage and rotatably drive the three brushes. In the often used construction (such as that disclosed and described in the Newcomer Patent No. 2,712,142) three circular or round brush holders 14 are provided and are positioned so that the periphery of at least one of the holders is in frictional engagement with the pulley mounted on the drive shaft of the vertically positioned motor, and the other brush holders frictionally engage the periphery of the driven brush holder. A convenient handle 16 is provided so that the cleaning and waxing machine may be readily guided about during its operation or use. Around the periphery of the casing 10 I provide a suitable bumper 18 of rubber, or other suitable shock absorbing material.

Each brush carrier 14 is provided with a stub shaft 20 which extends upwardly therefrom and is adapted to be held within a suitable ball-race thrust bearing (not shown) within the casing 10. In that manner the brush carriers 14 are properly positioned and held suspended from the casing 10, and in position to be rotatably driven by the vertically aligned motor within the motor housing 12.

The surface of the brush carrier 14 remote from the stub shaft 20 is routed out to provide space for the head 32 of a brush 30, which will be described more fully hereinafter. Within the routed out portion of the carrier 14 I provide a circular and endless helical spring 22 which is held within the routed out portion of the carrier 14 by the circular plate 24. The plate 24 is adapted to extend inwardly over the periphery of the routed out portion of the carrier 14 and be secured thereto by suitable screws 26. On the inner peripheral edge of the plate 24 I provide an upstanding retaining lip 28 vwhich extends toward the brush carrier 14. In assembling the brush carrier 14 for use, the endless spring 22 is placed in position within the routed out portion of the carrier and then the plate .24 is put into position and secured onto the carrier by the screws 26. Thus, the helical spring 22 will be held in position within the routed out portion of the carrier 14.

The brush 30 is substantially conventional in form, it having bristles set into a wooden (or other material) block or head 32. A circular ring 34, preferably of hard and durable material, is centered on the brush head 32 and is secured thereto by the use of a plurality of wood screws 36 which are driven through machined holes 38 in the ring 34 and into the head 32. Around the external periphery of the ring 34 I provide an approximately semicircular (in cross section) groove 40 having approximately the same diameter as the diameter of the helical spring 22. The external diameter of the ring 34 is equal, with liberal commercial tolerance, to the internal diameter of the ring 34. Thus, the ring 34, mounted on the brush head, can readily be inserted into the brush carrier 14. When thus inserted, the helical spring 22, which is held within the routed out portion of the carrier 14 by the plate 24 and its upstanding retaining lip 28, will be urged into the groove 40 in the periphery of the ring 34 and will hold the brush head 32 within the carrier 14.

Mounted within the ring 34 I provide a retractable plunger 42 which is constantly urged to protrude from the side of the ring 34 remote from the brush head 32. The plunger 42 is urged outwardly from the ring 34 by the compression spring 44. The under surface of the carrier 14 is provided with a hole or slot 46, having a slightly larger diameter than the diameter of the plunger 42, which is provided so that the plunger may enter the same at the time that it comes into alignment therewith.

With this construction, the brush head 32 may be easily inserted into the carrier 14 regardless of the position of rotation of either the brush or the carrier. By inserting the brush head, the ring 34 may readily be urged past the spring 22 which will become seated in the groove 40 and hold the brush 30 and its head 32 within the carrier 14. With the brush, and/or brushes, thus positioned the motor within the motor housing 12 may be started and the carrier 14 thereby rotated. With the brushes (their bristles) being on the surface to be waxed or polished they will not rotate until after the plunger 42 has become seated within the hole or slot 46 in the carrier.

After the work of the machine has been completed, or it is desired to change to a diiferent brush or tool, the brush may be easily removed from the carrier, and subsequently another brush may be inserted in the manner described above.

It will be readily understood that minor changes in the specific construction of the part may be made from time 3 to time without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the appended claim.

I claim:

A waxing and polishing machine including a substantially circular brush holder suspended by a housing depending from a motor casing and adapted to be driven by a rotary motor, a downwardly extending peripheral portion on the surface of said holder remote from its point of suspension, a flat ring secured to said downwardly extending portion and having an upstanding retaining lip substantially at its internal periphery, an endless helical spring positioned between said ring and the downwardly extending portion of the holder, a brush having a circular head adapted to fit within the internal periphery of said ring, a circumferential groove in the periphery of said circular head adapted to provide a recess for the said helical spring, and a spring-urged pin securing the holder and brush for rotation together.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 275,186 Gass et a1. Apr. 3, 1883 1,396,630 Higbee Nov. 8, 1921 1,754,639 Meyer Apr. 15, 1930 1,857,420 Wolford May 10, 1934 2,225,610 Christian Dec. 24, 1940 2,455,544 Yonkers Dec. 7, 1948 FOREIGN PATENTS 775,689 France Oct. 15, 1934 

